LAHORE: Federal Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar Saturday defended the hike in petroleum prices and said that fuel and food prices are witnessing a hike globally, bringing an impact on the domestic market, ARY NEWS reported.
“It is important to understand facts regarding a hike in petrol prices in the international market,” he said while addressing a gathering in Lahore adding that the fuel prices are more in India than in Pakistan.
Hammad Azhar said that a similar hike in inflation was witnessed in 2018 and the current situation is owing to the impact of COVID-19 globally that would soon ease down, paving way for a decline in prices of commodities.
The federal government has jacked up prices of petrol, diesel and other products following the approval of Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Earlier, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) forwarded a summary to hike petrol price from October 16 (today).
According to the finance ministry, the premier approved an Rs10.49 per litre increase on petrol. After the massive increase, the new price of petrol is Rs137.79 per litre.
The high-speed diesel price is also jacked up by Rs12.44 per litre. The new price of high-speed diesel has reached Rs134.48 per litre.
Read More: OGRA PROPOSES HIKE IN PETROL, DIESEL PRICES: SOURCES
The new price of kerosene oil has been fixed at Rs110.26 after an increase of Rs10.95 per litre. In addition, light diesel oil will cost Rs8.84 more and will thus be priced at Rs108.35 per litre.
The new prices have been enforced from today (October 16) for the upcoming 15 days.
